Amtrak carried record 28.7 million over past fiscal year, each route had gains, $1.7 billion in total ticket revenue for fiscal year (end Sep 30) all time hige

Amtrak carried a record 28.7 million people in the past fiscal year, with each of its routes seeing gains. Amtrak has posted six years of ridership and revenue growth. The number of trips over the past 12 months increased 11 percent over the 25.8 million taken in fiscal 2007. Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 reached $1.7 billion, a record for Amtrak and a 14 percent increase over the $1.5 billion taken the previous year.

The Northeast Corridor, Boston-DC, saw ridership go up 9%; the high-speed Acela service on that line went up 6.5%.

Congress passed legislation that sets funding targets of $13 billion over five years for Amtrak. The bill also calls for about $1.9 billion in federal matching grants to states for rail projects.

This is all good news for Amtrak and those commuters who rely on Amtrak. This will lead to an improved rail infrastructure, better service, better on time performance, and more options for professionals who need to commute along the NEC. All this helps many ordinary working people and will give a boost to the economies of any town or city serviced by rail; and it's a lot less than that $700 billion financial thing.